Remember that body strength and purification, though beneficial, is mostly symbolic.

As you purify and strengthen your physical body, strive to strengthen and purify your spiritual body. With realization through the other paths it becomes apparent that you are not a body but an eternal spirit.

The body will pass, but the real you can never die. Your conscious awareness does not die with the body, so as you strengthen your body, so should you elevate your spirit!

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find anything that agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it. (Siddhartha Gautama) (The Buddha) 563-483 B.C.